Vancouver is pretty receptive to food carts/trucks. There's a long waiting list and constant expansions. They're nice to have available, but they're a big "meh" for me. Prices are usually comparable to a sit down restaurant, and most of them (especially the carts) don't take cards, and I never carry cash. About the only thing I will go out of my way for is a jumbo smokie occasionally.

/$14.75 from one truck for (mediocre) 2 piece fish and chips a few months ago.//Japadogs are overrated. There, I said it.

Oh, and the building I work at chased off the food truck that had been servicing us for the last three years... because the company that is moving part of their operation into the building complained. A Japanese-owned auto-parts manufacturer. Whose employees, at their assembly plant that is literally across the street, have to buy their food from the company-owned cafeteria.

Vodka Zombie:I've heard this argument before in other towns. It usually comes down to local restaurant businesses telling the town council to pretend the food trucks are a terror threat.

I don't know why they'd want to do that... nope. No idea.

It's a shame too. There are some pretty decent food trucks in Houston.

In my crappy town the Chamber of Commerce was pretty frank about not wanting change for the sake of maintaining brick & mortar businesses. The City Council ended up allowing them if they pay a $600 fee. If they go 2 blocks to the neighboring town, they pay the same fees as other businesses. Guess what happened.

What a lot of restaurant owners seem to misunderstand is that it's better to have more food options in their neighborhood than fewer. If there are a lot of places to eat in a neighborhood, people start to gravitate towards it whenever they want a meal, because there are so many choices. They think that they'll do better if they have a monopoly, but the reality is that they'll do better if they are part of an area with a vibrant and varied food scene.

OTOH, they may complain about the food trucks because it may mean they have to produce something a little more interesting than what they've done in the past.

indylaw:Texas: You can buy booze and liquor at a drive through, but a taco truck is just too dangerous.

Dude, where do you think taco trucks originated? Minnesota?These guys have been selling tacos out of trucks and trailers for decades, but they always needed the permission of whoever owns the parking lot they inhabit (usually a gas station). Now they just want permission to stop on the side of the street like the trendy people in the librul states.

Gough:What a lot of restaurant owners seem to misunderstand is that it's better to have more food options in their neighborhood than fewer. If there are a lot of places to eat in a neighborhood, people start to gravitate towards it whenever they want a meal, because there are so many choices. They think that they'll do better if they have a monopoly, but the reality is that they'll do better if they are part of an area with a vibrant and varied food scene.

OTOH, they may complain about the food trucks because it may mean they have to produce something a little more interesting than what they've done in the past.

The big complaint I got is that the trucks can go where people are, like concerts, outdoor festivals, and football games. It seems more like jealousy than anything else, but plenty of businesses are willing to adapt to survive. I've seen at least one food truck from an existing brick and mortar restaurant. It's like outlawing catering.

indylaw:Nunpoo: Here in Tampa, the mayor holds a monthly food truck rally in a park downtown. Some of the local suburbs have actually started their own as well.

That's because Bob Buckhorn isn't a shameless hack.

During SXSW in Austin, they had an area that was a festival of Austin food trucks. Keep in mind that SXSW is when restaurants make money hand-over-fist. Yet they made a food truck area more or less in the thick of it all.

There's a food truck near a hackerspace I'm at frequently. One guy in a wagon, no English. EXCELLENT tacos.

Those filthy, stinking, wetback Mexicans with their shiat mobiles, stinking the place up with their road kill tacos and sewer water filled sinks.

Actually, it's because Houston has always been hard on food trucks until recently. They're changing laws to make it easier for food trucks, but this "keep them out of downtown" crap is a last-ditch attempt to stop them.

Houston makes it very hard to run a food truck. You HAVE to use one of their handful of preapproved commissaries (cronies of the city) - meaning - you have to PAY them to use their services so you can dump and clean out all of your equipment EVERYDAY. Can't be trusted to clean it on your own.

There are hundreds of crappy food trucks around too. "Lucy's Pink Taco" in Aldine has rats crawling out the window - it's a frigging mobile vehicle!

ClavellBCMI:Oh, and the building I work at chased off the food truck that had been servicing us for the last three years... because the company that is moving part of their operation into the building complained. A Japanese-owned auto-parts manufacturer. Whose employees, at their assembly plant that is literally across the street, have to buy their food from the company-owned cafeteria.

When I worked at a well-known newspaper catering to the military, we couldn't run any ads for Japanese automobiles near or around stories about World War II. Really.

downstairs:Dealing with this crap down here in New Orleans, too. Though they haven't used the "terrorist" angle. Yet.

And we have some awesome food trucks.

Restaurant owners always cry foul, claiming that the food trucks have an "unfair advantage" (low startup costs, no rent, etc). And that's a shame, because who doesn't like grabbing a cheap, quick bite that isn't Burger King?

As long as the restaurateurs complain about food trucks stealing their profits whenever the issue crops up, city council will never approve widespread food trucks. Hell, it took decades just to approve those bicycle taxis because the cabbies always aligned against it.

downstairs:Satanic_Hamster: Live outside of Houston, been following this. The big / real issue; downtown restaurants don't want their businesses hurt by competition.

Yep. Its pretty pathetic. Now, I don't mind some rules like we have down here... you have to be X feet (or blocks) from a stand-alone restaurant.

The funny thing is here in New Orleans some of the fancy restaurants are the biggest cry babies.

Really? I'm going to take the wife out on a nice date to a fancy place and drop $120 on food and drink... and we pass a taco truck and say "wait, lets just buy some tacos and sit on the street and eat them!"

Stupid.

If you give people good food "too cheaply", it makes the fancy places look that much more expensive by comparison.

TheDirtyNacho:Mock26: BitwiseShift: Why stop at food trucks? How about every restaurant and grocery store, too, in Houston.

He is probably taking money from restaurant owners who fear that food trucks will drive them out of business.

In Austin, the smart restaurant owners and chefs have started their own food trucks. Health codes require much prep work to be done in a commercial kitchen, and they already have that, making the overhead of the truck very low.

Also, by stating "such and such truck is by Chef Amazing" it gives both truck and restaurant additional cachet. For example, Paul Qui and the East Side King mini-franchise of deliciousness. It's a win for everyone.

Good point. The closest food truck to us is operated by a local Mexican joint. The food truck is an expansion of that business and is always busy. The restaurants should get it together and compete -- or go out of business.

pxlboy:TheDirtyNacho: Mock26: BitwiseShift: Why stop at food trucks? How about every restaurant and grocery store, too, in Houston.

He is probably taking money from restaurant owners who fear that food trucks will drive them out of business.

In Austin, the smart restaurant owners and chefs have started their own food trucks. Health codes require much prep work to be done in a commercial kitchen, and they already have that, making the overhead of the truck very low.

Also, by stating "such and such truck is by Chef Amazing" it gives both truck and restaurant additional cachet. For example, Paul Qui and the East Side King mini-franchise of deliciousness. It's a win for everyone.

Good point. The closest food truck to us is operated by a local Mexican joint. The food truck is an expansion of that business and is always busy. The restaurants should get it together and compete -- or go out of business.

Reminds me a bit of downtown Chicago, where the restaurant owners have managed to keep push cart vendors banned for quite some time. They claim that it would drive them out of business. Yet, they do not seem to care when a new restaurant opens up.

Mock26:pxlboy: TheDirtyNacho: Mock26: BitwiseShift: Why stop at food trucks? How about every restaurant and grocery store, too, in Houston.

He is probably taking money from restaurant owners who fear that food trucks will drive them out of business.

In Austin, the smart restaurant owners and chefs have started their own food trucks. Health codes require much prep work to be done in a commercial kitchen, and they already have that, making the overhead of the truck very low.

Also, by stating "such and such truck is by Chef Amazing" it gives both truck and restaurant additional cachet. For example, Paul Qui and the East Side King mini-franchise of deliciousness. It's a win for everyone.

Good point. The closest food truck to us is operated by a local Mexican joint. The food truck is an expansion of that business and is always busy. The restaurants should get it together and compete -- or go out of business.

Reminds me a bit of downtown Chicago, where the restaurant owners have managed to keep push cart vendors banned for quite some time. They claim that it would drive them out of business. Yet, they do not seem to care when a new restaurant opens up.

I would imagine that a brick and mortar restaurant is more likely to fail and would not be much competition for more established places. But the food trucks are great because they are not confined to a single location. They can go where the people are and that's just not fair!

My sister and her husband opened a burrito joint near here and, while delicious, should have been a food truck.

It's a bit interesting to see folks fascination with the Middle East, but little acceptance that the relative peace we enjoy here in the States is not always the case around the world. Yes, people say "Oh, I know...", but do they really think about it? If you were going to construct a car/truck bomb, would you not think to use something like a Food Truck as a base? It's already got a gas reservoir, and propellants/fuel wouldn't look that out of place at first glance.

I'm clearly not suggesting that Houston is about to be bombarded with Food Truck Bombs, but in the general sense Food Truck as a Potential Threat is somewhat feasible - given the right circumstances.

DeathByGeekSquad:It's a bit interesting to see folks fascination with the Middle East, but little acceptance that the relative peace we enjoy here in the States is not always the case around the world. Yes, people say "Oh, I know...", but do they really think about it? If you were going to construct a car/truck bomb, would you not think to use something like a Food Truck as a base? It's already got a gas reservoir, and propellants/fuel wouldn't look that out of place at first glance.

I'm clearly not suggesting that Houston is about to be bombarded with Food Truck Bombs, but in the general sense Food Truck as a Potential Threat is somewhat feasible - given the right circumstances.

I can think of a whole lot of things that are Potential Threats under the right circumstances, but that's hardly a reason to ban them from downtown locations.